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Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Reporting from Shanghai, writer Elaine Chow discovers the Jackfruit

You know what they say, once you go jack, you never go back.Elaine Chow, the witty and well-seasoned editor of Shanghaiist.com will be gracing Gastronommy with guest contributions from her post in China. -Victoria

On Jackfruit
by Elaine Chow

It always amazes me the amount of fruit I come across in Asia that
I've never seen anywhere else. You'd think that for someone who's
lived in China, Hong Kong and Singapore for the good part of two
decades, there'd be no fruity surprises left. And yet, I was schooled
this year by a new roommate, who upon arriving in Shanghai, picked up
the weirdest fruits he could find at a local market, and then became
promptly addicted to them. His most prevalent fruit of choice: The
Jackfruit.

The Jackfruit looks like a durian the size of a prize watermelon:
spiky and green and with a girth that makes you wonder how many people
get killed by errant falling fruits in its native country. According
to Wikipedia, its
the national fruit of Bangladesh and tends to do well in tropical
lowlands. I guess there's enough of a market for it here in the
slightly higher regions of Shanghai, though I really don't know why.

Interestingly, while the flesh is
apparently edible (when ripened), the only part my roommate ever
seemed to eat were the seeds. Perhaps he didn't know. Getting to the
seeds requires that you hack away the unedible skin, which then leaves
a waxy residue that gets all over your kitchen and is extremely hard
to wash out. Also extremely hard to wash out: the scent. While it's
not as noxiously odorous as durians are, jackfruit does have a sweet
but sickly smell that could permeate and flavor other foods in your
fridge. So let this be a warning: keep that stuff tightly wrapped
unless you want all your milk, mushrooms and bread to taste slightly
of jackfruit.

Speaking of which, what does jackfruit taste like? Like a banana if
you dialed down the sugar and crossed it with hints of mango... and
then added the texture of barely cooked chicken. No, that's not the
most appetizing description - but jackfruit's not exactly the most
appetizing of fruits.

photo by Elaine Chow

Or maybe I just think so because after week after week of our poor
kitchen reeking of something akin to rotting papaya, I couldn't muster
up any enthusiasm for the fruit anymore. Research shows that when you
take the pains to cook it, it can develop a nice, roasted chestnutty
flavor. I don't know: we never tried, and thanks to our roommate -
who's now left - we never will.

Elaine Chow is the current editor of Shanghaiist.com, an English-language
website about China covering local news, events, food and
entertainment. When not blogging, she spends her time studying urban
sustainability and helping out charitable efforts around town. And
drinking. Lots of drinking.
Elaine has previously written for Gizmodo, the gadget website. She can be
found on tumblr and twitter.